Multi-tasking the Olympics

Thinking Through Gestures

Just some things to consider while researching/thinking about gestures.The University of Chicago's Theories of Media Keywords Glossary entry on "gesture". Consider these passages:

The physical gesture could be a variety of different actions; it may be composed of a small wave of the hand, large movements incorporating the entire body or simply be a state of being, a posture or a stance. Gestures in dance, martial arts, sports, ceremonial occasions, religious events, dramatic arts, the symphony and even at the stock market are part of complex systems of regulated movements. Yet such habitual activities as eating, drinking, working and greeting one another can be considered gestures too. The word "gesture" does not refer to subconscious or involuntary actions like expressions or mannerisms. Gestures are generally regarded as intentional movements.

Perhaps what makes a gesture so powerful is not the gesture itself but the moment before the gesture or between the gestures. Walter Benjamin explains that in theater a pause between gestures is essential because spacing the gestures apart from one another makes them "quotable" or perhaps memorable. These spaces between the gestures allow the viewer to reflect on what is being seen and experienced.

Also, for people free on Thursday from 10-11:30, a lecture by the Chair of our New Media program, Kevin Hamilton, who is currently researching the development and representation of console interfaces during the Cold War.

If the design business forms a cornerstone of the creative industries, then the Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees maintain an influence far beyond the esoteric domains of metropolitan art galleries and glossy review magazines. Education for young artists and designers is largely modeled on the work habits of successful modern artists and design collectives of the last 100 years. This presentation will provide an overview of how modern artists and designers learn to ideate and explore. I'll show examples of the avant-garde artworks on which these methods are based, talk about some of the pressures and changes in the field. We'll also look to reconnect these methods to their historical contexts, as well as examining them in light of theories of creativity.

Follow Up To The Data Art Discussion

Some good questions and comments were made both in class and on your blogs in reaction to Manovich's critique of data art. I wanted to post a response by a California-based artist named Brett Stalbaum, who takes on Manovich's prioritization of the visual in his discussion of data and the potential for art to intervene in and use data streams. Particularly, he wants to see a broader discussion that isn't limited to the presentation of data on screens. Stalbaum writes:

...is being immersed in data exclusively a matter related to visual (or textual) cul ture, as typified by the types of screen-based (or scree-mediated) projects that Manovich is examining, or are there are other societal modes of interaction with data which are ripe for exploration by artists? Are we also immersed in data when Wal-Mart, the organization with the most powerful database and computing systems in the world, monopolistically cuts its prices based on database-driven analysis enabled by their massive intelligence corporate/retail spy network? Or when the carrot juice we purchase from a cooler at a local market is fresh? Or when our credit report and other background checks determine the outcome of financial transaction such as a home purchase? Or when a package arrives at your house on time? Or the police arrive at your door?

I also wanted to point to a couple of other projects that are related and might be of interest. One is the ongoing work of the two-person net.art team JODI, who early on started playing with the background of the web. Look at their home page, then view it's source.

The second project is by a group of artists that Stalbaum is part of called C5. It's called "Analogous Landscape" and gives form to many of his ideas about the impact of data (our understanding and use of information) on the landscape (landscape = our perception of the land and our surroundings).

Playing With Paper Prototypes

Monday, Feb 15 Update

Monday, February 15 will be a furlough day for Ryan, therefor we will not be meeting for class. We will be meeting as usual on Wednesday, and everyone should have read Lev Manovich's essay on data visualization and made a post to your blog in response.

One point that I would like everyone to consider is Manovich's assertion that data-visualization as art is a fundamental shift from a romantic conception of the sublime. He even goes so far as to say that "the desire to take what normally falls outside of the scale of human senses and make (it) visible and manageable aligns data visualization art with modern science." One conclusion that Manovich arrives at is that art should "make the method out of irrationality" rather than trying to overemphasize the rational and objective. How does this claim relate to your own ideas about making and appreciating art?Check out some of the links under Day 8 on the calendar to see some of the works Manovich discusses as well as other related works.

* Also remember that your team needs to have produced a finalized video document of your paper prototype (uploaded to the web - e.g. archive.org, youtube, vimeo).

For those that are interested in faculty and student responses to the mandatory furlough and other responses to the economic situation, there will be an open discussion at the YMCA, Latzer Hall, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., which is where I will be during our normal class meeting time.

Lecturer - Tuesday, Feb 9, 5:30PM

For Wednesday, Feb 10

Remember that you will be demonstrating working paper prototypes in class Wednesday, so your team needs to have one ready to go.

A non-team member will navigate each prototype and we'll briefly discuss how the teams solved the problems according to their stated goals. We'll also likely run a video stream so that we can see how these should be documented in final form, and for the amusement of the class.

ALSO, almost all of you have sent me a link to your exercises. I have not responded to those emails, but you can assume that I have gotten them. If you haven't, you know who you are.

If you need help using netfiles, look here, or ask me for help. Please make sure to upload to the "www" or "shared" folders so that I can view your docs without special permissions.